The latest trend in fitness can be seen on the wrists of gym-goers every where – fitness trackers. With their increase in popularity, many different brands are jumping in to join the market. Her Campus UConn is giving you the deets on some of the most popular fitness trackers.
1. Fitbit Flex
Fitbit is one of the most popular brands for fitness trackers today. The Fitbit Flex is the most simplistic option for active collegiettes hoping to get some insight on their daily health habits. The rubber wristband syncs to the Fitbit smartphone app and your desktop.
Price: $100
Color options: black, slate , violet, lime, pink, teal, tangerine, navy, red, blue
Features:
– Track your steps (and distance traveled), sleep, active minutes, calories burned
-You can input your daily food intake to track calories, keep track of the water you drink, and enter your weight and exercise activity.
-Fitbit can also sync with other fitness apps like MyFitnessPal or MapMyRun.
-You can also make daily goals and challenge your friends.
For a step up, you can check out the Fitbit Charge (~$150) that has a small screen that can show you your heart rate, function as a watch, and even show you caller ID!
Collegiettes say: “I love that it tracks all my steps and let’s me know when I’m active. My favorite feature is that it tracks my sleep, It shows when you’re asleep, awake, and restless during the night. I haven’t been on a run with it yet but when the weather clears up I can’t wait to use its GPS feature where it tracks your run.” Samantha Mackowitz (’17)
2. Jawbone UP24
The Jawbone is a slightly more expensive model than the Fitbit Flex at $129.99 but has tons of great features. Like the fitbit, it tracks your activity and sleep and syncs wirelessly to your device.
Price: $129.99
Colors: Persimmon, Navy Blue, Pink Coral, Onyx, Red, Lemon Lime
Features:
-Sleep and activity tracking
-Syncing with other fitness apps
-“Smart Alarm” that “wakes you up at the optimal moment in your sleep cycle
-“Idle Alert” that keeps you moving throughout the day
-“Smart Coach” feature that gives you “motivation and personalized insights”
Collegiettes say: “I loved it, it kept me on track with my steps and tracked my sleeping pretty accurately.” – Julia Reedy (’16)
3. The Polar FT4
It’s website lists it as the tracker “for those who want a basic heart rate-based features to keep their fitness training simple.” Polar also has several other fitness tracker models.
Price: $99.95
Colors: Blue/Orange, Silver/Black, Purple/Pink, Green
Features:
-Heart rate tracker that lets you define your target beats per minute
-A graphic display that lets you know when you are in your target zone
-calorie tracking
Collegiettes say: “I love it. It’s good for people who just want something simple and are only going to use it for working out. I like it because it will measure the duration of the workout, monitor your heart rate, and calories burned. Its nothing fancy but that’s what’s good about I think. Other people I know have newer versions of the polar heart rate monitor and they have GPS and track distance, so if you’re a runner or training that’s probably a good option too.” – Hayley Reissfelder (’16)
4. Garmin Vivofit
The Garmin Vivofit has many of the features that other fitness trackers have with a bonus amazing feature: a battery that lasts for over a year!
Price: $129.99
Colors: Black, Purple, Teal, Blue, Slate, Red
Features:
-Tracks heart rate and calculates calories burned
-Counts steps and lets you keep step goals
-tracks sleep
-alerts you about period of inactivity
-connection to smartphone apps
5. Nike Fuel Band SE
Can exercise equipment even exist without a swoosh on it? Nike defines this band as a “smart, simple and fun way to get more active.”
Price: $79
Colors: Black accented with either red (total crimson), neon yellow (volt), pink (pink foil) or black
Features:
-step and sleep tracker
-displays progress in real time
-tracks the intensity of your workouts
-Make workout groups with your friends through Nike+Groups (only on iOS)
Each of these five options has many other variations, so do some research to find out which one is best for you!